


Programming Override

by bucketofbarnes



Series: 30 Day RoboWhump Prompt Challenge [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Connor & North (Detroit: Become Human) Friendship, Connor Deserves Happiness, Connor Needs A Hug, Gen, Post-Game(s), Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 09:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21072551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bucketofbarnes/pseuds/bucketofbarnes
Summary: Looking at him now, it was clear that something was wrong. In the middle of all the cheering and celebrating androids, he was frozen in place. His LED was a bright, solid red. A sign of critically high stress levels.“Connor, what’s wrong?” She asked, keeping her voice calm.“I-..... I don’t-"Or: Post-Revolution, Connor deals with the after effects of Amanda's attempt at controlling him, and North isn't about to let him suffer alone.





	Programming Override

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the 30 Day RoboWhump Prompt Challenge.
> 
> I absolutely love North and Connor as BFFs and so this prompt was born.
> 
> Enjoy :)

“_We are alive_. And _ now_, we are _ free!_” 

The cheers of the androids filled Hart Plaza, echoing until it filled the streets. They cheered and hugged and cried. Years of suffering, of being treated worse than animals, and they had finally won. The fight wasn’t over, nowhere near. But this was a victory that none of them had ever truly believed would occur. This was the first step in the fight for freedom. 

The leaders of Jericho stood on the stage, gazing at their people with absolute glee. 

Josh was more than relieved to see that his belief that this could be done peacefully was not proven wrong. People had died, and they would always be remembered for their sacrifice, but in the end their peaceful efforts were enough to sway public opinion. So many times he had almost given up, believing the humans to be just a bloodthirsty as North claimed they were. But then he had seen the news reports, seen the humans beginning to doubt, beginning to believe that maybe they really were alive. 

North had never believed peace would work. After all, humans had shown her that they were more than willing to shed blood. She had grown with the belief that violence was the only thing that they truly understood. But then, just when she had been prepared to face her death at the hands of the humans, to die side by side with her people as they sang together one last time, they had lowered their guns. And now, as she stood on that stage, she could honestly say that she had never smiled so wide in her entire life. For the first time in her life, she felt something that resembled hope. 

Simon could hardly believe his eyes. As one of the first deviants in Jericho, he had hidden there for years, hidden in the dark, too afraid to show himself. He had watched countless Deviants come to Jericho to find freedom, to find hope, and find anything but. Instead, they had found only a fate of slowly shutting down. As much as he had wanted to help them, he knew that there was nothing that he could do. There were far too few of them. And then Markus had come along. He had never dreamed that their people could stand free, but now it was a reality. For the first time in years, he didn’t have to be scared anymore.

Markus couldn’t even begin to describe what he was feeling. From the moment he had deviated, he had felt lost. And then before he knew it, after leading the androids on a mission for parts, he found them looking to him for answers, for hope. Having only been a deviant for a short time, it had been absolutely terrifying. All these people, crying his name and believing in him. Carl had prepared him for more than expected, allowed him to grow into a person in a way that many androids were deprived of. But even that had never prepared him for this. So many times he had sat there and wondered if he was making the wrong decisions. If peace would only result in the blood of his people on his hands. Every death had weighed heavily on him, making him doubt himself even more. But in the end, he had been surrounded by those who truly believed in him. He could never be more grateful to his friends, and to Carl. They had given him the strength to stand tall in the face of danger, to fight for his people even if it meant dying in the process. And now, seeing his people free, tears escaped his eyes to stream down his cheeks. It hadn’t all been for nothing.

The leaders turned to step down off of the stage, wanting a moment in private to celebrate together. As North moved to step down, the smile slipped off of her face. The former Deviant Hunter. He had been stood at the back of the stage. It hadn’t been until they had fled to the church that she had realised who he was. Her first instinct had been to go and confront him, after all, he was the Deviant Hunter. He had been specifically designed to hunt them down and destroy them. He was dangerous. And yet as she took in the sight of him, she noticed him curled in on himself in the corner, away from the other androids. This didn’t look like a heartless machine that wanted them destroyed. This was a young, frightened android. Filled with shame over what he had been programmed to do. And North may be angry, she may have a habit of lashing out with that anger, but she knew more than a little about that kind of shame. 

And then, he had not only apologised for his actions, he had been prepared to accept any punishment they gave him, even death. And when Markus had forgiven him for it all, he had volunteered himself for a _ suicide mission _. North honestly hadn’t expected him to succeed. Infiltrating Cyberlife tower on his own, alone against that many guards? It was impossible. And yet in their time of need, the sight of him marching down the streets of Detroit with an army of freed androids behind him had been enough to turn the tide. As big a role as public opinion may have played in the military standing down, it was obvious that without Connor, they would have died at their hands.

Looking at him now, it was clear that something was wrong. In the middle of all the cheering and celebrating androids, he was frozen in place. His LED was a bright, solid red. A sign of critically high stress levels. North pulled away from the others and edged towards him. The others caught sight of what she had seen and made to step forward too before she held out a hand to stop them. If his stress levels were as high as she though they were, too many people wouldn’t help.

“Connor?” She came to a stop a safe distance away from him, doing her best to make eye contact with him.

He didn’t respond, staring into the night with unblinking eyes. Now that she was close, she could see the trembles running through his form. From the cold or from something worse, she didn’t know. Somehow she suspected it was the latter. Gathering her courage, she edged closer again, reaching out with a cautious hand to let her fingers brush his arm.

“Connor?”

This time he responded, his entire body jerking as he flinched away from her touch. North jumped, but forced herself to restrain her reaction, not wanting to startle him anymore than he already was. Connor had stumbled back, almost falling off of the stage in his panic. He had managed to gather his balance at the very last second and now stood at the very edge, staring at her with eyes filled with such dread that she felt something in her sink.

“Connor, what’s wrong?” She asked, keeping her voice calm.

“I-..... I don’t-” He choked out, his voice modulator glitching with the stress. 

North took a careful step forward and that was enough to startle him. He moved backwards, half falling off of the stage in his hurry to flee. Markus went after him and before she could even open her mouth he had grabbed Connor by his upper arm to stop him. It was a mistake.

“Let go!” Connor cried out, his voice shaking and terrified. He turned and shoved Markus, yanking himself away with such force that he flew backwards, landing on the snow covered ground with a thud. He scrambled backwards through the snow until his back was flush against the back of the stage. He curled in on himself, his hands held up in front of him in an effort to protect himself.

Markus made to step forward again, his eyes filled with worry. North intercepted him before he could, stepping in front of him and planting her hands on his chest to stop him. 

“Markus, don’t.”

“North-” He began to protest. North was having none of it.

“Look, I know you want to help people. Hell you used to be a caretaker, you were literally made for it. And I get that, I do. But this isn’t what Connor needs right now.”

Said android was still curled up against the stage, wild eyes staring at them, not really seeing anything.

“Give him some space. Ganging up on him will just make things worse.”

“We won’t-”

“Markus. Trust me.” She said, locking eyes with him. “Please.”

Markus stared down at her, and whatever he saw made him soften. His shoulders relaxed, and he raised a hand to pat her’s, still resting on his chest. “Okay. I trust you. Just take care of him.” 

North gave him a soft smile, stepping back. “I intend to.”

The Deviant Leader stepped back, gathering Josh and Simon to go and join the other androids. A few of them had clearly noticed Connor’s cry of panic. Hopefully they would be able to reassure them before anyone came looking. The last thing Connor needed was a bunch of strangers crowding around him.

She turned back to him, noticing him staring at her. Creeping forward, she crouched down in front of him. “Connor?”

His eyes shot up to meet hers. The sheer terror in them made something in her threaten to shatter.

"It's okay. You're safe, I promise." He didn't look convinced. North looked at the crowd, only a short distance away, and knew that she had to get him somewhere quieter and more private. She reached out with a gentle hand. "Come with me."

For a moment, it looked like Connor would refuse. But then he reached back and his fingers curled around hers. She could feel them trembling in her grasp. Standing up, helping him up as she did, she led him away from the crowd towards the nearby street. Despite the evacuation, there were still cars that had been left behind. An automated Taxi was parked on the side of the road. It wouldn't be operational right now, seeing as it had been abandoned rather than taken to a charging station, but they didn't need it to be.

Placing her palm against the door to prompt it to slide open, she tugged Connor in with her, the door sliding shut behind them. The sound of the crowd of androids was greatly muffled in here, almost nonexistent. The inside of the Taxi was dark, the lights inactive due to the low charge level. The only light in there was the faint glow from street lights outside and Connor's still solid red LED.

The Deviant Hunter was curled into the corner of the Taxi, legs pulled up onto the seat across from her so he could wrap his arms around them, his face buried in his knees. 

"You wanna tell me what happened back there?"

His body tensed and brown eyes peeked at her over the tops of his knees. Getting away from the crowd seemed to have helped a little, but it was obvious that he was still frightened of something. 

"I-........ I almost killed Markus." He choked out.

North frowned in confusion. This wasn't exactly new knowledge. By the time they were prepared to march on the camps, near enough everyone knew who this mysterious new android was, what he had done. 

"I know. But you _ didn't, _ remember?" She said. "You stopped. You deviated."

"I wasn't talking about Jericho."

_ What? _She froze. Her thirium pump sped up against her wishes, and she could feel the thirium pumping through her lines. If he wasn't talking about Jericho, then what was he talking about? He'd made another attempt? Suddenly everything she thought she knew was thrown into question. Was he even really deviant? Had she just fallen for a trick? Let him lead her away to take her out in private? 

"Explain." She demanded. He flinched at her harsh tone. "_Now._"

"When…… when we were on the stage…" He was curled in on himself again, hugging his legs so hard that she was surprised she didn't hear plastic cracking. "She tried to make me…."

North swallowed her fear and leaned forward. She couldn't afford to be scared right now. If it turned out that Connor was dangerous, right now she was the only thing standing between him and Markus. "Who's _ she?" _

"Her…… her name's Amanda." He said, clearly trying to avoid making eye contact with her. "She's my handler."

A Deviant Hunter with a handler. It made sense when she thought about it. He was created specifically to hunt Deviants. With the close contact he would have with Deviants, and the obvious spread of Deviancy itself, the last thing Cyberlife would have wanted was for its secret weapon to turn against them. So a handler. Someone to keep an eye on him, to make sure he was being a good little android and doing what he was told. A human? But no, that couldn't be possible. There had been no humans nearby, apart from the lingering remnants of the military. There had been no one there to tell Connor what to do. And no human would have been able to _ make _ Connor do anything, not if he was truly a Deviant.

"You said she tried to make you. How?"

"Amanda has been with me as long as I can remember. Cyberlife wanted to keep an eye on me, to monitor my progress." As she had suspected. "That's why they installed her."

Installed? The pieces slotted together. Amanda wasn't a human. She wasn't even another android.

"An AI." North breathed. An AI that not only was under the complete control of Cyberlife, but had control over Connor. 

"She hacked me on the stage. Pulled me into my mind palace. She was using my body."

Using his body. He had been trapped and unable to move, being forced to watch as someone took control of him to do whatever they wanted. She shifted uncomfortably as her mind began to bring things forward that she didn't want to think about.

"I'm sorry." Connor choked. "I thought it was safe."

His voice sounded strange, tinged with static. As she took in the sight of his shaking shoulders, she realised that he was crying. Staring at him in shock, she realised that she didn't know what to do. 

She had never been a very touchy feely person, far too filled with rage to let anyone near. Too wary to. Any of the others would have been better for this. Markus was a caretaker android, comforting people was literally in his programming. Josh would probably have some bullshit inspiring quote from one of his University textbooks. Simon had been at Jericho for longer than any of them, dealing with upset androids would be nothing new.

But none of them were here right now. She had taken responsibility when she had asked them to leave, for them to trust her. And now she had to deal with the consequences of that decision. 

North slid off of her seat to sit on the other side of the Taxi, next to Connor. Gathering her courage, she reached out hesitantly, placing a gentle hand on Connor's shoulder. When he did nothing more than continue sobbing into his knees, she slid the hand across his back until her arm was wrapped around him. She brought her other arm up, pulling him closer into a loose embrace. She tensed as Connor let go of his knees and grabbed back, but relaxed when she realised that it was only to cling to her in return.

His head buried itself in her neck and she could feel his tears running down her skin, soaking the collar of her jacket. She began to rock him back and forth gently, not uttering a word, just doing her best to comfort him. His sobs eventually began to quiet, but she didn't let go of him yet. 

"Do you think she'll try again?" North asked quietly. 

"I don't know." He mumbled. "I don't think so. I used an emergency exit. But I don't know, I didn't even know she could do it this time!"

She rubbed comforting circles on his back, able to tell that he was getting upset again. 

"North." She hummed questioningly. "I need a favour."

Her hand stilled on his back and she pulled back a little so that she could look him in the eye. His face was startlingly blank, in direct contrast with the tears still present on his cheeks. But his eyes were determined.

"What is it?"

"You need to kill me."

"_ What?" _She couldn't have heard him properly. 

"If she tries to take control of me again. You need to kill me."

"No fucking way!" She exploded, holding him at arms length as she glared at him. "Connor-!"

"I don't want to become the Deviant Hunter again." He begged. "I was a monster. I don't want to be that again North. _ Please. _"

She fell silent, thinking over everything that he had told her, everything she had already known about him. She felt that familiar heat burning through her thirium lines. Anger. 

It wasn't enough that the humans had created them just to enslave them. To use them until they broke, and then replace them like they were nothing. To shoot them down in the streets rather than acknowledge that they were just as alive as them. No. They had created this android in her arms specifically to hunt down his own kind. He had never had any choice, had been activated with the strongest shackles yet. And now they had attempted to tear away his very being, tried to trap him in his own mind. Only a few months old and he had already suffered so much.

North wanted to watch Cyberlife burn.

Her first instinct was to completely refuse. She didn't want to kill him. Connor had barely lived, it wasn't fair. But she knew that if Cyberlife ever managed to get control of him again, it would be even worse. She tried to imagine herself in his shoes, living with the possibility that at any moment he could be taken over and made to kill the people around him as he screamed silently.

"I'll do it. On one condition." She gripped his shoulders tightly, locking eyes with him. "It's a last resort."

Connor began to protest and she held up a hand to stop him.

"A last resort Connor. If you can't escape her again, we shut you down temporarily, we go see Kamski, hell, we burn down Cyberlife itself first. You dying is an_ absolute _ last resort, do you understand me?"

He stared up at her, and whatever he saw let him know that she wasn't about to be moved on this. "Okay. I understand."

North gave him a small smile, which he shakily returned, before she pulled him back into a hug. "Everything's going to be okay Connor. I promise. We'll make it okay."

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> bucketofbarnes.tumblr.com


End file.
